NY chicken lover!!!!

[Cass]

My chickens love this warm weather..

Is it just me or are those brown hens HUGE!!!??

 

[Sachasmom]

Anyone want a worthless (Mutters bad words) cat?

They left the basement door open AGAIN this am and it killed one of the silkies. Granted, it was the silkie I was going to cull... Bah. How hard is it to keep a door CLOSED???

On the plus side, it didn't set the house on fire when it got in the brooder...

 

[NovaRidge]

Hello again!
It's been a month or so since my last post, but I have been 'stalking' this thread. It has been Such a wealth of information that I feel like I am more prepared.
I am to start my chicken adventure tomorrow. I have 10 heavy layer chicks on order at A & J Domani Ranch which is about an hour from me. They have been wonderfully helpful and accommodating.
I was also thinking of getting 6 or so from Nature Berry Hatchery in Macedon on my way home/ down to A & J. (Nature Berry is only 30 min from me.) And of course the chicken math kicked in and I would like to get chicks of the same age together to raise together and not worry about introducing new ones later on. My quandary is that the Nature Berry personnel has not been very helpful. Am I alone with my feelings? Do I want to get involved with them after my first impressions? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks again for this thread and all your posts. It has really helped me at least feel more prepared for my next adventure!
Sarah

 

[stonykill]

Is it just me or are those brown hens HUGE!!!??

they look about the size of my 2 to 4 year old RIR's. big girls

 

[featherz]

Is it just me or are those brown hens HUGE!!!??

LOL, they are tiny compared to my non hatchery birds. Of course, next to a leghorn any LF look huge.

 

[Lynzi777]

Hello again!
It's been a month or so since my last post, but I have been 'stalking' this thread. It has been Such a wealth of information that I feel like I am more prepared.
I am to start my chicken adventure tomorrow. I have 10 heavy layer chicks on order at A & J Domani Ranch which is about an hour from me. They have been wonderfully helpful and accommodating.
I was also thinking of getting 6 or so from Nature Berry Hatchery in Macedon on my way home/ down to A & J. (Nature Berry is only 30 min from me.) And of course the chicken math kicked in and I would like to get chicks of the same age together to raise together and not worry about introducing new ones later on. My quandary is that the Nature Berry personnel has not been very helpful. Am I alone with my feelings? Do I want to get involved with them after my first impressions? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks again for this thread and all your posts. It has really helped me at least feel more prepared for my next adventure!
Sarah

I just got off the phone with A&J with hopes I can get can get 3 chicks from there this coming weekend (well 6 with the law, and hoping I can find homes for other 2-3). Has anyone else ever ordered from them? Are you happy with the quality of what you got? Sarah, it's about an hour from me as well. Where are you from? I'm in the Tully/Lafayette area.

 

[java girl 2]

hey Featherz, would you do a trade of my eggs for one of your roo?

 

[featherz]

hey Featherz, would you do a trade of my eggs for one of your roo?

Sure! Just PM me and I'm happy to meet up so you can check them out.

 

[rancher hicks]

Hello again!
It's been a month or so since my last post, but I have been 'stalking' this thread. It has been Such a wealth of information that I feel like I am more prepared.
I am to start my chicken adventure tomorrow. I have 10 heavy layer chicks on order at A & J Domani Ranch which is about an hour from me. They have been wonderfully helpful and accommodating.
I was also thinking of getting 6 or so from Nature Berry Hatchery in Macedon on my way home/ down to A & J. (Nature Berry is only 30 min from me.) And of course the chicken math kicked in and I would like to get chicks of the same age together to raise together and not worry about introducing new ones later on. My quandary is that the Nature Berry personnel has not been very helpful. Am I alone with my feelings? Do I want to get involved with them after my first impressions? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks again for this thread and all your posts. It has really helped me at least feel more prepared for my next adventure!
Sarah

First I have to say, becareful what you say if they know you well. Companies follow these postings and can just punch in their name and your post comes up. I got blasted by the manager of a store for complaints I made on BYC. They did not take it as constructive criticism. There if no confidentiality here so don't expect any.

Now I have to ask are you buying sexed chicks? Nature Berry buys from hatcheries don't they? Not that this is a bad thing. I'm beginning to think it might be wiser to just order from hatcheries than hatch my own and end up with roos. Of course hatchery birds can go broody too and that is not an easy thing to break sometimes. At least not without being cruel. IMO.

Can you tell I'm getting tired of roosters. Out of 8 SFH's , 2 are not SFH's and of the others 4 are roosters. Out of 10 B. Maran, 2 died and 4 are roosters. And that is not counting what I hatch myself. I have an order of Dels coming from a farm and Lord only knows how many will be roosters. Of course I will confess there is a hardiness issue and what do you do with them after year two?

 

[featherz]

Can you tell I'm getting tired of roosters. Out of 8 SFH's , 2 are not SFH's and of the others 4 are roosters. Out of 10 B. Maran, 2 died and 4 are roosters. And that is not counting what I hatch myself. I have an order of Dels coming from a farm and Lord only knows how many will be roosters. Of course I will confess there is a hardiness issue and what do you do with them after year two?

That's one reason I am thinking of throwing a few hatchery sexed pullets under my broodies this year. Have the easter hatch now, but after that I'm going to be tired of getting rid of roos. I'd order from a hatchery, but I can't guarantee I'd be home on the day they arrive. If anyone nearish me wants some hatchery pullet chicks I'd be happy to split an order if you take delivery.